MaxPreps Southern California Top 25 high school baseball rankings

Video: Lucas Herbert Baseball Highlights
See San Clemente's Lucas Herbert in action earlier this season

We've reached the final week of regular-season play in the Los Angeles City and Central sections, so expect some playoff action in next week's rankings.

This week sees four teams enter and three of the four have not been featured thus far this season. El Camino Real of the City Section, Tesoro, Mission Viejo and Cajon are the four new entrants, and that means that we had to say goodbye to Mater Dei, Santa Margarita, Santa Fe Christian and Edison.

Click here to see the MaxPreps California Computer Rankings. Records are current as of Tuesday morning.


1. (1 last week) JSerra Catholic (San Juan Capistrano), 20-4
Classification: Southern 1
Rankings: 1 state, 1 national, 18 Xcellent 50

The Lions' grip on the top spot moved slightly downward with a 3-2 loss to Saint Francis (Mountain View) in the Boras Classic final. Cal-Hi Sports knocked them down to the fourth-best SoCal team. But we don't see too much of a bad thing losing to an out-of-area team that is ranked in the Xcellent 50. JSerra also beat St. John Bosco 5-3 and 6-3. Three games with Servite await this week.

2. (2) San Dimas, 24-0
Classification: Southern 3
Rankings: 6 state, 16 national, 24 Xcellent 50

The Saints slaughtered Covina 10-0 and even though they are perfect, their strength of schedule can't get them past JSerra at this point. Two games with Rowland of Hacienda Heights are this week's contests.

3. (4) Harvard-Westlake (Studio City), 20-3
Classification: Southern 1
Rankings: 4 state, 10 national, 20 Xcellent 50

The Wolverines continue to move up. They defeated San Marcos 9-1 and Bishop Amat 7-0 and are actually the top SoCal team in the Cal-Hi Sports rankings, plus they are ahead of San Dimas in the Xcellent 50. They have a huge two-game series with Alemany this week.

4. (3) Buchanan (Clovis), 24-4
Classification: Central 1
Rankings: 11 state, 43 national, 35 Xcellent 50

The Bears finally lost after an undefeated April, splitting a series against Clovis in two games that both ended 5-3. Clovis is a very, very good program so a big drop is not necessarily called for. The Bears close out their regular season with two games against Clovis North this week.

5. (6) Huntington Beach, 16-7
Classification: Southern 1
Rankings: 8 state, 24 national

The Oilers still aren't in the Xcellent 50, but it can't be long before we see them again. They won 9-3 over Newport Harbor in their only reported game. Two games with Fountain Valley and one with Los Alamitos are on the slate this week.

6. (7) Agoura, 19-3
Classification: Southern 1
Rankings: 2 state, 7 national, 37 Xcellent 50

The Chargers won their only contest of the week, dropping a loss on Westlake in a 9-1 rout. They have Thousand Oaks and Oaks Christian on the schedule this week. One more win should sew up the Marmonte League title pretty early.

7. (5) Dana Hills (Dana Point), 22-5
Classification: Southern 1
Rankings: 3 state, 8 national, 45 Xcellent 50

The Dolphins split their two-game series with Aliso Niguel, winning 5-1 and losing 3-2. A pair with Capistrano Valley is this week's challenge in the tightly bunched South Coast League.

8. (8) San Clemente, 19-6
Classification: Southern 2
Rankings: 5 state, 14 national, 46 Xcellent 50

The Tritons edged Laguna Hills 1-0, then poured it on in an 11-1 whacking. They're still an Xcellent 50 team but are having a hard time shaking Mission Viejo in the Sea View League race with each team at 9-1. They are scheduled for at least one game against the Diablos this week, possibly two depending on a possible schedule typo.

9. (9) La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad), 19-4
Classification: San Diego 1
Rankings: 12 state, 45 national

The Mavericks have been the class of the San Diego Section just about all season long. They swept a three-game set from Rancho Buena Vista last week (9-6, 5-4 and 4-2), and are scheduled to face El Camino (Oceanside) twice this week. Cal-Hi has them as the No. 3 SoCal team.

10. (11) Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks), 19-5
Classification: Southern 1
Rankings: 14 state, 58 national

The Knights are fast climbers lately with seven victories in a row. They won 2-1 over St. Francis in their only game since the last set of rankings. They have two with Loyola this week.

11. (12) Vista Murrieta (Murrieta), 15-7
Classification: Southern 1
Rankings: 19 state, 71 national

The Broncos took a pair from Murrieta Mesa (8-5 and 1-0), vaulting them into the Cal-Hi Sports state top 20. And they're ninth in the LA Times rankings as well. They face Chaparral twice this week.

12. (10) Alemany (Mission Hills), 16-8
Classification: Southern 1
Rankings: 36 state, 172 national

The Warriors suffered a bad loss to a sub-.500 Dos Pueblos team, 7-3, and smashed Chaminade 12-3 in their other game. It's just hard to find lower-ranked teams that had good enough weeks to leapfrog Alemany. We'll find out a lot when Alemany faces Harvard-Westlake twice this week.

13. (16) Norco, 18-4
Classification: Southern 1
Rankings: 18 state, 66 national

The Cougars won 6-2 and 3-2 over King (Riverside) and have two tough games with Santiago (Corona) this week in Big VIII play. They've won seven in a row and now have a one-game lead in the league.

14. (18) Rancho Bernardo (San Diego), 17-6
Classification: San Diego 1
Rankings: 43 state, 198 national

The Broncos have moved back to No. 2 in the UT San Diego rankings and are now in Cal-Hi's state Top 20. They won 18-2 and 7-3 over Canyon Crest Academy, then won 7-2 over Mt. Carmel. Two more with Mt. Carmel await this week.

15. (17) Aliso Niguel (Aliso Viejo), 16-10
Classification: Southern 1
Rankings: 22 state, 81 national

The Wolverines split with Dana Hills, winning 3-2 and losing 5-1. They have a doubleheader with Laguna Hills this week. Consistency has just been elusive for a team that was ranked among the nation's best heading into the season.

16. (22) El Dorado (Placentia), 17-7
Classification: Southern 1
Rankings: 56 state, 271 national

The Golden Hawks won 8-6 and 13-2 over Canyon and have won six of seven, not to mention the top spot in the Crestview League. They are 10th in the LA Times rankings and ninth in the Orange County. They face El Modena twice.

17. (25) Orange Lutheran, 18-7
Classification: Southern 1
Rankings: 10 state, 36 national

The Lancers are back on a good swing, having taken won 9-0 and 9-3 over Mater Dei, then 3-2 over Santa Margarita. They have two more with the Eagles this week, and their wins booted Mater Dei and Santa Margarita from these rankings.

18. (14) Fountain Valley, 18-8
Classification: Southern 1
Rankings: 42 state, 188 national

The Barons split with Los Alamitos, winning 4-3 and losing 9-8. They're set to face Huntington Beach twice this week with a big chance to make up ground in the Sunset League.

19. (20) South Hills (West Covina), 17-7
Classification: Southern 2
Rankings: 25 state, 99 national

The Huskies split with Ayala, winning 4-2 and losing 9-4. They are now in a three-way tie atop the Palomares League with Glendora and Ayala. They face Claremont twice this week.

20. (NR) El Camino Real (Woodland Hills), 21-7
Classification: Los Angeles 1
Rankings: 34 state, 156 national

The Conquistadors are tied atop the West Valley League with Cleveland, and one game ahead of Chatsworth. They have two with Cleveland this week to close out the regular season and have a chance to win the league title outright if they sweep it.

21. (23) Chatsworth, 20-10
Classification: Los Angeles City 1
Rankings: 30 state, 120 national

The Chancellors had little trouble dispatching Hart, 11-1 and 9-2. They also beat Culver City 7-1 in a tournament contest. They need to sweep Granada Hills this week in two games and then hope that El Camino Real and Cleveland split.

22. (NR) Tesoro (Rancho Santa Margarita), 18-7
Classification: Southern 1
Rankings: 13 state, 56 national

The Highlanders have two games scheduled with El Toro this week. They have splits with Dana Hills and Aliso Niguel recently, and obviously have a stellar computer ranking.

23. (NR) Mission Viejo, 19-8
Classification: Southern 2
Rankings: 33 state, 153 national

The Diablos were ranked earlier this season and they're back, thanks to a tie with San Clemente atop the Sea View League standings. They have two games scheduled with San Clemente this week and they're definitely biggies.

24. (23) El Modena (Orange), 16-7
Classification: Southern 1
Rankings: 29 state, 116 national

The Vanguards have come back down to Earth a bit in recent weeks, but still have a solid resume. They split with Esperanza last week and have two huge games with El Dorado this week.

25. (NR) Cajon (San Bernardino), 20-2
Classification: Southern 2
Rankings: 26 state, 104 national

The Cowboys are new to the rankings with a spectacular record, though the strength of schedule has been slightly lacking. Still, two losses at this point in the year is noteworthy. They face A.B. Miller twice this week.

Dropped out: Edison, Santa Fe Christian, Santa Margarita, Mater Dei